


Unusual Ceremonies

by astralelegies



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Day Seven, Multi, Post-Canon, Royai Week 2015, Wedding Fluff, the past/the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralelegies/pseuds/astralelegies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wedding of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. With a side dish of temporary mayhem. For Royai Week day seven: the past/the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unusual Ceremonies

**Author's Note:**

> My stories for this week's prompts have mostly been a collection of[ angst](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4103305),[ more angst](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4110229),[ a break](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4115191) for [some fluff](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4120597), and then [angst](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4125615) and [angst again](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4130635) (albeit sappy). I thought it was time I gave these two a happy ending. (Although let it be said I know virtually nothing about weddings.) Hope you enjoy!

Even on the day of her wedding, Riza Hawkeye couldn’t help strapping a pistol underneath her dress.

 

“Riz _a_ ,” her best friend/maid of honor Rebecca Catalina protested, “you’re getting married for god’s sake, not storming a castle.”

 

“Might be fun, that.” Riza gave Rebecca a teasing grin, and she rolled her eyes.

 

“You and that freak Mustang deserve each other,” she declared, bringing Riza her veil, “I’m making the rule now that you are not even allowed to _allude_ to work on my wedding day.”

 

“I’m just surprised I’m the one marrying first,” Riza remarked, “for a while I didn’t even know if I’d _get_ married, but now here I am.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and talk about your perfect future while your poor friend Rebecca is over here, boyfriend-less.”

 

“Oh really? Didn’t I catch you acting friendly with a certain Mr. Jean Havoc as I walked in?”

 

Rebecca blushed. “It was highly unfair of Mustang to make him best man. Do you know how much interacting the two of us are supposed to do? A lot, Riza. It’s a lot.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll cope.”

 

Riza fixed her veil, smiling to herself. She’d opted for minimalist attire, just a floor-length white dress with layers of light fabric for the skirt and thin straps. It was plenty formal, but had also been designed for ease of mobility. Just because she was getting married didn’t mean she couldn’t be practical, no matter what Rebecca said. All in all, she thought, it was best to be prepared.

 

* * *

 

“Someone’s looking sharp.”

 

“That person obviously not being you.” Roy Mustang adjusted his tie.

 

Havoc smirked at him. “Well, I’m not the one getting married.”

 

“Oh is that why you’re late?”

 

“Much as it would be thrilling to see my former superior officer partially naked, I had very important flirting to attend to.”

 

“And this would be why you were my second choice for the job.”

 

It wasn’t, of course, and they both knew it. By all rights Maes Hughes should have been the one in charge of pestering Roy on his wedding day, because after all he’d been quite adamant about getting Mustang a wife.

 

“He’d be proud of you today,” Havoc said quietly.

 

“He’d be bouncing off the damn walls.” Roy smiled, a little wistfully. “Thank you, Havoc.”

 

Havoc inclined his head. “Of course.”

 

Roy checked himself out in the mirror one last time, gave himself a quick nod of approval, and let Havoc escort him out. His grand entrance awaited him.

 

* * *

 

Since neither Roy nor Riza was very religious, they’d opted not to have a church wedding. A simple courthouse affair had seemed more appropriate, but one could not be best friends with Rebecca Catalina and not have what she called “a proper ceremony”, and reluctant though Riza was to admit it, she rather liked some of the majesty. She didn’t really know how to do a wedding and she rather suspected hers could be counted more than a tad unusual, but these were unusual times, after all, and her soon-to-be husband was a most unusual person.

 

With Havoc filling the spot of best man, the parts for groomsmen had been left to Fuery, Breda, and Falman. There had been slightly more difficulty in picking out the bridesmaids—Riza’s first thought had been Winry Rockbell, who was happy to oblige, and then she’d decided on Maria Ross and Lan Fan. Riza had worked closely with Roy in strengthening diplomatic relations with Xing, and had thus become rather close to the young automail-sporting bodyguard. Plus, it never hurt to curry favor with an emperor’s closest companion. Ling Yao himself would be in attendance, and would probably eat them into the ground at the reception.

 

For ring-bearer-flower-girl they’d chosen Elicia Hughes. At nearly eight she was perhaps almost too old (Riza wouldn’t know), but it’d be a travesty to not involve her and frankly there wasn’t a more adorable child to be found in all of Amestris. Alex Louis Armstrong would officiate (“The tradition of uniting two loving souls in matrimonial commitment has been passed down the Armstrong line for GENERATIONS!”), while his sister would look on and hopefully not injure anyone during the proceedings.

 

Riza knew her friends. She knew _herself_. If this thing managed to go off without something blowing up, catching fire, or trying to kill everyone, it would be a miracle. She smoothed the skirt of her dress. Maybe she’d end up having to use that gun after all.

 

* * *

 

Paninya straightened Winry’s corsage and gave her a light kiss on the nose. “You look fantastic.”

 

“Do you think so?” Winry was pacing nervously. She had little experience with events that required her to wear something that could be deemed impractical should the need for a spontaneous repair job arise. “It isn’t too small, or anything?”

 

“It’s perfect.” Paninya threaded her arms around Winry’s waist. “You’re going to be amazing.”

 

“Thanks.” Winry smiled at her gratefully, then jumped in alarm. “Oh! I’m supposed to be helping greet the guests.”

 

“Easy. Hardly anyone’s here yet.”

 

“Even so.” Winry tugged on her hand, leading her to the entry.

 

It was early summer, and Roy and Riza had decided to hold their wedding in one of Central’s small gardens. There was a gatehouse out front that served as a check-in point for the attendees, and would later be the venue for their reception. The space was small, the guest list smaller, but Winry thought that was probably about right. Hawkeye and Mustang were a rather private couple, and she knew that with the upcoming presidential election they wouldn’t be able to stay out of the spotlight for long. Now that Amestris had been fully democratized, the government and military acted as separate entities again. Riza was a favorite to become general of the army (if Olivier Armstrong didn’t beat her to it), and Roy’s campaign for the presidency had been by far the most successful. Soon they’d have an even greater share of friends and enemies alike.

 

Edward and Alphonse were coming through the door, accompanied by May Chang and a panda bigger than Winry herself.

 

“Ed! Al!” she waved frantically, glad for the familiar faces. She tackled them to the ground in a hug. “I’ve missed you guys.”

 

“Jeez, Winry, you’re crushing my leg.”

 

“Yeah? Well you’d better be grateful it isn’t your automail one, Edward Elric, because I am not fixing that today.”

 

She caught sight of a flash of white in the corner and quickly got to her feet.

 

“Oh, hello Riza. Aren’t you not supposed to be here yet?”

 

“I’m avoiding Rebecca. She said she has a surprise for me and I’m a little bit suspicious.”

 

“I’m guessing stripper,” Winry offered, prompting embarrassed muttering from Ed and Al behind her. _Boys._

“Hey Hawkeye, how come Winry gets to be in the wedding but not us?” Ed asked, ever the tactful one.

 

“Roy said if there were going to be Elrics involved he’d call the whole thing off,” she replied.

 

Winry suppressed a giggle. She decided to watch for the rest of the guests. There was Mrs. Hughes, minus Elicia, who was getting ready for her part to play. Next came Olivier Armstrong, looking sharp enough to cut bone in a high-necked icy blue ensemble. After her was President Grumman, dressed humbly with only a single bodyguard in tow, and then Ling Yao, who did not appear to have any guards with him but did depart immediately in search of Lan Fan. And then a small man in a dark suit walked in. Riza didn’t recognize him, but there were plenty of people she hadn’t even known existed before yesterday’s rehearsal dinner—Roy Mustang’s foster mother, for one—so that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Still, perhaps she should tell Riza. Winry turned to address her but found she’d vanished.

 

“Her friend the maid of honor lady whisked her away,” Paninya explained, coming to stand beside her.

 

“How is it you always know what I’m thinking?”

 

“I can tell you that later tonight.”

 

Winry laughed, but part of her was still anxious. She eyed the man in the suit. He wasn’t doing anything suspicious, but he wasn’t talking to any of the other guests either. Something about him bothered her. She would have to keep an eye out.

 

* * *

 

Riza could hear the music begin to play, and smoothed her dress for the umpteenth time. Not long now. First went the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and then Havoc and Rebecca, who flashed her a dirty look. (The surprise, as it turned out, had not been a stripper, but it had been something unmentionable in Riza’s present company.) Then Elicia was off, beaming, tossing flowers with one hand and carrying the rings with the other. It was almost time for Riza to go in.

 

She’d be alone, as her father was too dead to walk her down the aisle. President Grumman had offered to do the honors, but she’d declined. He was her grandfather, but this was a fact she’d only recently discovered and it would have felt odd being in the hands of a near stranger. Besides, she could give her own damn self away. It was her choice.

 

The chords changed slightly, and Riza knew that was her cue. She took a nervous breath and stepped out the doors of the gatehouse onto the grass. She could see Roy waiting by the alter, and he gave her just the tinniest of grins. In return she granted him the suggestion of an eye roll. She marched confidently forwards, looking straight ahead, chin tilted ever-so-slightly upwards.

 

Then a man in a dark suit jumped out ahead of her, blocking her path. In an instant he’d whipped out his gun, but not before Riza had drawn hers. He made to shoot her but before he could she fired a single bullet, hitting him in the leg. As a nearby policeman who’d rushed to the scene clapped him handcuffs, he stared at Riza in cold shock. She stared at him right back.

 

“In the future,” she said, “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from assassination attempts on my wedding day.”

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you shot someone on our wedding day.”

 

“I can’t believe there was only one person getting shot on our wedding day.”

 

Roy laughed. “Fair point.”

 

It was evening now, and the reception was in full swing. Alphonse and May were having an animated conversation by the snack table, right next to where Ed and Ling were having an even more animated argument, while Lan Fan stood by in amusement. Maria Ross was dancing with one of Roy's "sisters". Winry and Paninya had gathered a small flock, and Paninya was telling them all the story of how they’d first met (“When she grabbed my wrist to stop me from escaping with her best friend’s watch, I knew I could no longer be a thief because she’d stolen my heart”), and Fuery was in the corner looking mildly alarmed by a girl who was obviously flirting with him. Rebecca and Havoc were out swaying in the middle of the dance floor, which they'd been doing the entire time.

 

After things with the would-be assassin had sorted themselves out, the whole ceremony had continued in a somewhat ordinary fashion. Their guests, most of them by now used to the more or less constant chaos surrounding the couple, took everything in stride. Major Armstrong had cried through part of the officiation, and even Roy had gotten misty-eyed. And then they were married.

 

“You know,” Roy said, “I don’t believe I’ve gotten my special dance yet.”

 

“Please, you’ve had two already.”

 

“Counting is a highly variable thing.”

 

“Well, if you really _insist_ …”

 

He led her out onto the floor, where the other couples instinctually moved to give them space. Riza pressed herself against him, and he buried his head in her hair. She’d known him for most of her life, and yet it was only recently she’d even allowed herself to dream this could be possible. Now here she was. After everything—after Ishval, and the Promised Day, and the work of rebuilding Amestris—here they were. Together.

 

Riza leaned up and kissed him, knowing she would take a piece of this moment with her into everything that lay ahead.


End file.
